He Priced Me At A Penny So I Married Another Chapter 01
On the day we were supposed to discuss our wedding date, Derek Lawson pinned my photo to the ‘free’ board at the community flea market.
In the price field, his best friend, Tori Bennett, had scrawled “one cent.”
Beside it, she’d written:
*Five-year relationship. Clingy. Comes with eight old quilts. All sales final.*
By the time I reached Fairmount Park, Tori was already shouting into the event organizer’s megaphone.
“Derek’s sick of her. Whoever wants to take over today can have her for free.”
“Age doesn’t matter. Her biggest selling point? She’s desperate to get married!”
The crowd laughed.
A woman shopping for her divorced son grabbed my arm. She sized me up, decided I was too skinny, and demanded that Derek throw in a car.
He actually started to negotiate with her.
“The car is fine, but you have to make sure your son doesn’t let her run back to her own apartment. She’s too clingy. He’ll have to keep her in line.”
I jerked my arm out of the woman’s grip.
Only then did Derek pull me to his side, speaking as if nothing had happened.
“You’ve been hounding me about the wedding date every day. I can’t breathe.”
“Spend one afternoon here, and you’ll see that no one else is willing to take you. Then maybe you’ll learn how to treat me.”
Tori shoved the megaphone toward my mouth.
“Come on, Lydia, sell yourself a little. If you fix that attitude, maybe someone will actually want you.”
His friends were all filming. In their group chat, they were taking bets on how long it would take before I broke down and begged him to tear down the poster.
I looked past the crowd and saw a familiar face.
Everett Hale’s mother was standing in front of the board, pulling out the thumbtack and slowly tearing the poster down.
I borrowed a phone from one of the market organizers and dialed the number I knew by heart.
“Everett, change your ticket to Boston. Make it two.”
“Come get me, and I’ll go with you.”
…
I handed the phone back and pointed at the beige purse in Tori’s hand.
“Get my phone.”
Before we came to the park, Tori had said she wanted to use my phone for our engagement photos.
I’d handed her the purse and followed Derek into the market. Only then did I see my photo clipped to a clothesline.
Now Tori swung the purse behind her, backing up until she was behind Derek.
“So you even invited Mrs. Hale. You’re putting on quite a show. If I’d known, I would’ve charged Derek admission.”
Mrs. Hale stepped forward, blocking her.
“Give Lydia her bag. You’ve had your fun. Are you going to hold her things hostage, too?”
She’d come to the market with her sister. She heard my name over the megaphone from a few stalls over and pushed her way in.
Derek knew who she was, and he finally straightened his posture.
“Mrs. Hale, this is just a joke between us. Lydia’s been pushing too hard lately, and I wanted her to cool down. Otherwise, once we’re married, she’ll think everything has to go her way.”
After he said that, he took the bag from Tori and shoved it into my arms.
“Happy now? Don’t make this uglier in front of company.”
The strap brushed against the red mark on my arm. I flinched.
Derek took the chance to grab my arm, his thumb pressing right on the red welt.
“She doesn’t know her own strength. You could have just moved away. Why’d you have to fight her?”
I pried his fingers off.
“You brought the poster here. When she put her hands on me, you were standing right there.”
A gust of wind flipped the torn notice over on the line.
Under my name, it listed how I closed windows for people in the middle of the night, and how I’d taken care of Derek’s sick mother. Now those things had become selling points for strangers to pick over.
I reached up to unclip it.
Tori got there first, pressing down on the corner of the paper.
“Don’t be in such a rush. The market isn’t over yet. If you pull it down now, people will really think there’s something wrong with you.”
“Take your hand off.”
The paper tore beneath her fingers. Half of my photo stayed clipped to the line.
Someone nearby shook their head. Tori immediately forced a smile.
“She’s only this angry because she’s scared nobody wants her. Derek spoiled her. She’s not like this at home.”
A long-faced man added, “Lydia, if you’ve got a problem, take it home. People only get the weekend off. Don’t waste everyone’s time.”
I clenched the torn paper in my palm until the edge bit into my skin.
Five years ago, it had also been a weekend.
The Hale family had come to my mother’s house for dinner. Everyone knew Everett was planning to ask me out afterward. Once the guests left, Derek stopped me downstairs.
He’d said, *Lydia, don’t let our families arrange your life for you. You should be with the person you actually like.*
Because of those words, I turned down Everett—the one everyone thought was the right choice.
Now, Derek had hung my photo out in the wind and was telling me to smile for strangers.
I looked at him, my throat raw, as if it had been scraped with sandpaper.
“Derek, we’re done. Stop making a joke out of my name.”
He reached for my shoulder, paused, then smiled again.
“Fine. We’ll be broken up until dinner. Once you calm down, we’ll talk about the wedding date.”
Tori laughed and handed a spare poster to someone nearby.
“She must think the deal isn’t sweet enough. Derek, go get all the stuff she packed for the new house. Let everyone see the rest of the dowry.”
I snapped my head toward him.
He was already on the phone with the movers.
“Don’t take it to the townhouse. Bring it to the west gate of the park. And bring all eight quilts.”